Port Indian daredevils to freeze on skis'

WEST NORRITON — Like football, resolutions and the Mummers Parade, the Port Indian Ski Freeze has become a hallowed annual tradition that diehard fans look forward to on New Year’s Day.

But nobody is as diehard as the skiers themselves.

“We’re hardcore,” admitted Peter Bostock, who is going on 20 years as a member of the Port Indian Ski Club.

Battling water that’s a couple of notches above freezing may not be everyone’s idea of fun times, but for a handful of adventurous skiers — anywhere from three to around 20 madcaps have been known to participate — it’s an invigorating way to launch a new year.

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Up to 100 spectators turn out for the spectacle — “and it is a spectacle,” Bostock said, laughing — to watch the brave waterway warlords who take on the not-so-placid-this-time-of-year Schuylkill River on their own terms.

Like so many things, the 22-year-old Ski Freeze was born on a dare.

“One New Year’s Eve somebody said ‘at high noon on New Year’s Day we’re going water skiing’ … and they did,” Bostock noted. “And they’ve been doing the water Ski Freeze ever since.”

As it was in the classic Western film of the same name, the skiers gather at high noon for their showdown with the river, ready to rustle up their own brand of trouble from the dock of a private Port Indian residence.

This year the hosting site is 16 W. Indian Lane in West Norriton Township.

“We’ve held the event all up and down the port over the years at different properties,” Bostock noted. “There is no ski club property, so it relies on private property to host an event like this and the public waterway of the Schuylkill River for the actually skiing.”

Frequently, families will ski together, including their youngest members in the fun as well.

The Port Indian Ski Club has been around since 1954, and in recent years adopted a charitable cause for the Ski Freeze to add an altruistic dimension to the merriment.

Donations will benefit the nonprofit Rainbow Camp in Schwenksville, which helps bring a little extra joy to the lives of underprivileged kids.

Some folks prefer their water skiing to be fancy free and barefoot, Bostock noted.

“People pick whatever type of ski they want, whether it’s slalom, wake board, knee board or barefoot skiing, whatever they’re good at that’s what they’ll start on,” he explained. “Most people will try and start on the dock and then leap onto their board and ski around and land back on the dock or near the dock and get plucked out of the water. If they fall taking off or fall while they’re skiing or coming back to the dock they either have to swim back to the dock or swim to the boat or we pick them up. We’re very safety-conscious about having boats available.”

The daredevils may show up in costume to boost the festive spirit, but hardly anybody ever dons a wetsuit.

“For most of us, that would be cheating,” said Bostock, who was optimistically anticipating a favorable answer to the question, “how’s the water?” come Tuesday.

A mild winter’s day will be a far cry from the year he and other organizers had to pummel blocks of ice on the river so the boats could get out.

“The only thing that would keep us from going in would be a heavy driving rain,” Bostock said. “Light rain wasn’t enough to stop us. We’ve done it in snow, scattered showers and in high water. The warmest day we remember, it was sunny and warm and people skied multiple times all afternoon until dark. We’ve had other New Year’s Days when icicles were forming on the boat.”

Other than the hot coffee and refreshments awaiting skiers at the end of their watery exploits, there’s not much to offer any cold comfort while out on the Schuylkill, Bostock allowed.

“It’s a real challenge overcoming the elements,” he said. “It’s just so shockingly cold and the water is sometimes right around freezing. Right now it’s probably in the upper 30s and is bitterly cold when you go in it. Even the spray from the skis hurts. If you go in the water and have no wetsuit on it’s shocking ... and I know, because I’ve gone in numerous times. If you’re lucky, you get numb before it gets intense.”